Healdsburg City Council Approves $1.5 Million Downtown Streetscape Plan

 Healdsburg City Council voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of a to add parking spaces downtown, widen the sidewalks, plant trees along the sidewalk and create grassy sitting areas on downtown street corners on Center and North streets.

Separately, the council

On the , Public Works Director Mike Kirn discussed two alternatives that had been developed during previous council meetings and public workshops and through an extensive period of research.

Kirn endorsed a plan that involved adding nine parking spaces in the downtown area for a total of 92 spaces on Center and North streets. also calls for widening the sidewalk on Center Street by 12 feet.

The second alternative was to add fewer parking space (three, for a total of 86), but widen the stretch of North Street that runs through downtown to the west of Center Street by 14 feet, keeping the 12 feet addition on the stretch of North Street extending east of Center Street.

Kirn said he favored the first plan for several reasons. One, he said the extra parking spaces make sense given the heavy traffic downtown and complaints by residents and downtown business owners about a shortage of proximate parking.

Two, he said the widened sidewalks would be more pedestrian-friendly in areas where there is high foot traffic as well as signs and outdoor displays (such as clothing racks). Three, he said the first plan provided more parking spaces and easier sidewalk access for the disabled.

“(The plan) provides the most spaces and, at the same time, it widens the sidewalks in a way that is user-friendly,” Kirn said. “Our outreach with business owners showed overwhelming support for maintaining (a high number) of parking spots …. That was the main concern.”

Several councilmembers expressed concerns about the plan they eventually elected to adopt, most notably that the additional six parking spaces were unnecessary.

“I think losing six spaces (by choosing the first streetscape plan over the second) and allowing for more pedestrian-friendly space is worth it,” said Councilmember Gary Plass. “Tourists who come down here don't complain; they're used to parking and walking a little bit … Parking will always be an issue, whether there are 12 new spaces, 40 or 60.”

Mayor Tom Chambers said he objected to any widening of the sidewalk, asserting that the issue of pedestrians crowding the sidewalk was overblown. “I like the way the sidewalks are now,” he said.

But Chambers also said that discussions around downtown streetscape improvements had gone on long enough, and that he would support Kirn's preferred plan in the interest of getting on with the project. Both Plass and councilmember Susan Jones (who also voiced reservations about certain particulars) also said they thought the plan was sound enough to get the go-ahead. It passed with a 5-0 vote.

Also on Tuesday, the although that, too, only passed after some disagreement.

Plass originally suggested that $50,000 from the fund be dedicated to the dealerships, while Wood argued that $25,000 should be spent. Wood agreed that money given to the dealerships would be put to good use, but said he preferred the lower figure because he felt uncomfortable using Community Benefit Fund money for any business activity, contending that the money was reserved for non-profits and other community service-related organizations.

“My concern is that it's a big leap to use community benefit grants for Chamber of Commerce (activities),” Wood said. “This money is for non-profits, for swimming lessons for the Hispanic community, for (food drives), for the Jazz Festival …. This has a different feel to me.”

Plass responded that the council had full discretion over how to use the funds, and that funding local business in hard economic times constituted a community-oriented project. He also pointed out the the fund would have plenty of left-over money even with a $50,000 expenditure. However, after Jones and Chambers joined Wood in advocating for the $25,000 amount, Plass agreed to a compromise of $30,000.